Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-07-01
A SNAKE FARM.
HOW THE RATTLESNAKEs HAVE
MADE CAPTAIN sToyER RICH.

ton. However, these poor but bon.
est people have learned that there
is money in snakes, and last year
they cleared almost enough IRON
their sales TO pay the expenses OF
the family Of four.
"Who buys rattlesnakes, and
what on earth do they want with
them 7" you ask. Why, for use IN
the manufacture of the new cure
for rheumatism. a firm in Phila-
delphia uses the oil in their remedy
and pays good price for every rat
tlesnake delivered at their labora-
tory. Mr.. Stover has contracted
with the firm to furnish them 2jO
of that species during the present
season at 1926 each, none to meas
ure less than 4 feet in length, or to
be less than SIX years of age. The
older the snake the better and
stronger the oil.
Sunday the sun shone out bright
and warm, which brought out the
snakes in large numbers to bask in
the warm rays, and, as Mr.. Stover
said, would be a good day to take
a stroll oyer "rattlesnake forty."-
Procuring a good stout stick and
donning heavy pair Of boots, your
correspondent joined Stover and
Dunn in the hunt. Dunn is CON-
paratively new man in the snake
business and has had several mar
row escapes from being bitten by
the deadly reptiles, but he is learn
ing fast. To show as how easy it
is to kill q snake he picked up a
blue racer by the tail, that was ly-
ing coiled up in the sunlight, in a
half cOmatOse condition, and Civ.
ing it a couple of whirls over his
head in a lightning manner, he
cracked it like a whip, causing its
head to part from its body and spin
through the air. Proceeding a lit
tie farther, we came to "the
mounds" little raised places on the
snake farm, where the snakes bur-
row in winter and breed IN sum.
mer. There are thirty-seven OF
these mounds on the farm, and on
the south side of one of the largest
of these, where they could get the
full benefit of the sun, lay, cOiled
mp sound asleep forty.three large
rattlesnakes, seven blacksnakes,
and numerous other smaller rep
tiles, not one Of which seemed to
recognize our presence. Slower
and Dunn do not kill off the whole
crop yearly, but leave many for
breeding purposes.
"Wby," said the former, "tbat
mound there contains probably a
dozen nests of eggs, and each nest
at least ten eggs. | have found
nests that contained az high as
eighteen young rattlers, the largest
not over two inches in length
Their eggs are about the size of
those OF a partridge, but have a
soft shell. The farm Is a tract or
virgin prairie, and has never seen
plow, and Dan says in summer
its native grass is very high, rem
dering it an excellent place for the
reptiles to hide iD.'
After retiring to the house, the
two snake. breeders exhibited a
string of rattles several feet in
length, which they captured last
summer, the whole footing up 7GS
rattles.
Some of the snakes possessed %
rattles and a bntton. each rattle
counting a year of its age and the
button a fraction of year.
Mrs. Stoyer also had in box of
sawdust under q cook stove q rat.
tlesnake eggs, which, SHE said,
would begin to hatch in a few davs,
after which event the children
would be kept busy catching flies
to feed the tiny pets.
Slower and Dunn have several
pet rattlers around the house, which
are as harmless as kittens, made so
by their poison sac having been re-
moved from the roots Oftheir mouths
and their fangs clipped with pinch
ers, all this being done while the
snakes were nnder the influence OF
chlorOiorm. They have no equal
as mice exterminators, and in the
summer keep the place free from
bugs, flies, and bad boys.
1t il needless to say the neigh
bors' children do not tronble the
Stover househould or their prem
ises.
Besides Supplying The Philsdel'
phia hrm with snakes tor their use,
the breeders have filed orders for
different parii-s IN all parts of the
connIIy, mostly physicians. A
doctor in 81. Louis took several live
pairs last summer AT - per pair.
Killed By Lightning.
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